PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The bureaucratic heaviness of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is legendary, deplores the author.
What do the following people have in common:
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
- African pop artist Yemi Alade, forced to cancel her closing show at the Nuits d’Afrique festival in Montreal.
- Tennis player Victoria Azarenka, 20e world racket, who was unable to participate in the National Bank Open this week in Toronto.
- At least a hundred (if not more) participants at the international AIDS conference in Montreal.
They have all been unable to obtain a visa to stay or work in Canada in recent weeks.
The bureaucracy of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is legendary. As if this federal department had adopted the “madhouse” philosophy of 12 labors of Asterix.
“Internationally, Canada is known to be particularly difficult when it comes to granting visas,” says Ms.e Stéphanie Valois, president of the Quebec Association of Immigration Lawyers.
It’s one thing to know that in theory.
It’s quite another to have concrete examples of how embarrassing the situation is.
Yemi Alade is an African pop star. She gives concerts all over the world and recently obtained a visa to perform in the United States. In Canada, she was refused her visa on the pretext that she had not proven her intention to return to her country of origin.
Victoria Azarenka is one of the best tennis players in the world. Canada was unable to issue him his visa in time due to a formality related to the payment of his biometric tests (fingerprints), it seems. In all the history of world professional tennis, we have not remembered an athlete who missed a tournament because she could not obtain her visa in time (even though she was entitled to it, like Mme Azarenka).
The organizers of international events say it openly: in recent years, it has become more and more complicated to obtain work visas. Last month, the director of Nuits d’Afrique confided that the federal government would like to have visa applications six months in advance. Even if the programming of the festival is not yet decided at this stage…
Yemi Alade and Victoria Azarenka don’t look like exceptions to the rule. On the contrary: they seem to be treated the same as everyone else.
In the midst of a labor shortage, employers are seeing foreign workers they have recruited wait months (or even more than a year) for their work visa, according to a recent survey by the To have to1.
A very large proportion of foreign students recruited by Quebec universities – particularly Francophones from Africa – are refused a study visa, according to a survey by Radio-Canada in 20212.
The cumbersome federal bureaucracy is not just for visas. Wait times for immigration applications are also very long. They also increase with employment insurance. There is the passport crisis. The chaotic management of airports. Not to mention the Phoenix payroll disaster.
Honestly, we have to wonder whether the federal government is capable of effectively delivering direct services to the public within an acceptable time frame.
Even if it’s not a sexy subject, the Trudeau government should make it a priority.
When it comes to citizen services, when Ottawa is held to account, the same scenario is often repeated: a minister begins by giving an explanation (translation: an apology) and then resolves the crisis in the short term if public pressure mounts enough.
After seven years in power, the Trudeau government can no longer avoid bureaucracy. The conclusion is clear: when it comes to delivering direct services to citizens, Ottawa has a poor record.
When we are unable to grant, in the same month, a visa to an international artist and to a double champion of a Grand Slam tournament, it is proof that it is time to straighten the bar.